Retort for carbonizing wood or the like.



No. 731,059. 7 PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903. P. L. LAURELL.

RETORT FOR GARBONIZING WOOD OR THE LIKE.

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PATBNTED- JUNE 16, 1903.

P. L. LA

RETORT FOR GARBONIZIN 00D OR THE LIKE.

APPLIGATIOK FILED MAR. 10, 1902.

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W m a UNITED STATES Patented June 16, 1903.

PER LORENTZ LAURELL, OF STOCKI-IOLM, SWEDEN.

RETORT FOR CARBONIZING WOOD OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 731,059, dated June 16, 1903.

Application filed March 10, 1902. Serial No. 97,573. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PER LORENTZ LAURELL, a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway, residing at Stockholm, Sweden, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Retorts for Carbonizing YVood or the Like; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of refer-. ence marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to carbonizers, and more particularly to that type designed for the carbonization of wood into charcoal.

In order to effect a uniform carbonization of a mass of wood in the stick in an economical.

manner, the waste of heat either by radiation or otherwise should be reduced to a minimum and the utilization of heat in the performance of useful work should be increased to a maximum. This can be attained only by a judicious distribution of the heat, so that the temperature within the closed retort may be as nearly uniform as possible at all points, and by so arranging the circulation that the products of combustion from the source of heat will escape after having given up the greatest possible part of their heat.

The object of my invention lies in the construction of a retort whereby the desiderata or requirements referred to are obtained. This I accomplish by inclosing the retort in a non-conductive shell or housing, as one of brickwork, with a free space all around the retort. By the provision of means whereby the products of combustion are caused to circulate first around the bottom of the retort to the center thereof, then axially through a flue passing axially through said retort to and over its top and down along the sides to a stack. By the provision of means whereby the vapors and volatilized constituents from the wood are caused to circulate upwardly in the retort, along the walls thereof, then downwardly through the wood, which is stacked perpendicularly in the retort, thus forming a plurality of perpendicular passages between the sticks, and then to a discharge pipe or flue, through which the liquid constituents produced by the distillation are also discharged.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention relates may fully understand its construction and appreciate its advantages, I will proceed to describe the same indetail, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical section of a carbonizing apparatus embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the apparatus, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a like section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig.1. Fig. 4 is a detail vertical section taken on line 4: 4, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

a designates the retort, which is preferably cylindrical in form and provided axially with an open-ended flue f. This retort is surrounded by a non-conductive shell or housingtb, which is preferably of brickwork, and its internal dimensions are such as to leave a free space a above and all around the retort. This housing is provided with a base 0, in which is formed a port 0, that registers with the fiuefof the retort.

As shown in Fig. 1, the brickwork base 0, upon which the retort is mounted, is inclined and at or about at its lowest portion is provided with an opening 0 Beneath this lowest portion of the brickwork is placed a pipe is, having a branch 7a, which projects through the opening 0 and through the bottom of the retort, above which is arranged a false foraminous or grated bottom 19 with the view of effecting a circulation of the hot gases under 1 the pile of wood in the retort. This pipe leis designed to receive the discharge of both the liquid and the gaseous products of distillation of the wood while it is being carbonized,

and the liquid products may be drawn off through a purge-cock 70 or, if preferred, the pipe 7c may be extended to any desired point where the liquid products are to be collected. The gaseous products are discharged through a vertical pipe 10 branching from pipe is, which may communicate with a stack or draftflue'h or may extend to any point at which it is desired to collect said gaseous products for any purpose. This pipe 70 extendsthrough an open-ended flue 2', whose outer end i is open to the atmosphere and whose inner end 11 terminates on or about on a line with the axial fiuefof the retort, so that communication can be established between the atmosphere and said fiuef; but during the operation of carbonization this communication between the atmosphere and the fine f is cut off by means of a damper Z, mounted in the flue 'i. Said damper preferably consists of a gate hinged to one of the side walls of the fine near its inner end and is operated by means of a rod l, hinged to the free end thereof and extending through the fine to the outside of the brickwork.

In the base of the outer non-conductive shell or housing b and directly opposite the flue 11 are located two furnaces d d, separated from each other by a central partition-wall d, which connects with a Wall (1 built concentric to the inner face of the housing b, forming two nearly circular fines e e, which lead to passages to w, formed between the wall (1 and the sidewalls of the fine t'. The rear end of the combustion-chamber of each furnace opens into one of these fines, and the products of combustion from the furnaces fines 6 into the passages to w, thence into the inner end of the fiuet'and directed from there by the damper Z, which will be closed, up through the retort-flue f, over the top of the retort, and down around the same and through the port h, Figs. 2 and 4, leading from the base 0 to the stack or fine h, located nearly opposite the furnaces. It willthus be seen that by the time the products of combustion reach the finehthey will have given up the greater part of their heat and escapein a quite ,1 cool condition, and as they are caused to circulate nearlyover the entire surface of the base 0, 5 on which the retort is supported,over the entire top, and around the entire circumference of said retort the latter is quite uniformly heated,owing to the passage of the hotter products of combustion axially through the retort. The uniformity of the temperature within the retort is, however, almost perfectly established by providing for a circulation therein of gaseous and vaporous products of distillation in an upward direction along the retortwalls and along the walls of the axial flue f, thence in a downward direction through the apart, said distance beingless than the length of the sticks of wood used in the'retort, and

highly-heated fine-walls from becoming prematurely charred. V

When a charge of wood has been charred, it is desirable to cool the retort with the least possible loss of time. This is accomplished by shutting off communication between the furnaces and the circular fines eby means of dampers u and at the same time opening the damper Z in the flue t to permit a large volume of atmospheric air to fiow into the fiuef,

' such air flowing from the latter and taking the same course as the products of combustion to the stack It, so that the retort can be uniformly cooled for the discharge of the charcoal and the recharging with wood. These dampers u preferably consist of rectangular plates adapted to be slid during the process of carbonization into recesses tt,formed in the wall of the brickwork, and are operated from the outside by means of rods n passing through the wall, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The retort isor may be charged through a suitable manhole in the topadapted to be closed air-tight, a corresponding opening be- :ing provided in the brickwork, which is brickedup during charring.

will flow in opposite directions along said 7 Having thus described myinvention, what i I claim as new therein, and desire to secureb Letters Patent, is-

1. A carbonizer comprising a retort having an open-ended central flue, a stack, an inclosing casing commu nicating therewith, a source of heat-supply, fines diverging therefrom below the retort and communicating with the central fine of the retort, whereby heated products of combustion will be first led beneath the retort, then up through the central fine over the top and down the sides to the stack, for the purpose set forth.

2. A carbonizer comprising aretort having an open-ended central flue, an inclosing casing, a support therein for the retort, said casing of greater vertical and cross-sectional areas than the like areas of the retort, a source of heat-supply, fines diverging therefrom below the retort-support and communicating with the central fine of said retort, cut-0E devices for cutting off the supply of heat from said diverging fines, means for admitting cold air to the aforesaid central retort-fine, and a 1 stack leading to the space around the retort near the foot thereof, for the purpose set forth. wood. To this end I arrange ring-bars a, if

theretort is cylindrical, at suitable distances 3. A carbonizer comprising a retort having an open-ended central flue, an inclosing casing, a support therein for the retort, said cas- :ing of greater vertical and cross-sectional areas than the like areas of said retort, a

- source of heat-supply, fines diverging therefrom below the retort-support and communieating with said central flue of the retort, cut

off devices for said fines, an air-flue also in communication with the flue of the retort below its support, a cut-ofi device therein, and a stack in communication with the space around the retort at the foot thereof and approximately opposite to the source of heatsupply, for the purposes set forth.

4. A carbonizer comprising a cylindrical retort having an open-ended flue therein, a casing, a support therein for the retort, a source of heat-supply, circular flnes diverging therefrom below the retort-support and merging into a central space in communication with the flue of the retort, cut-0E devices'for said circular fines, an air-flue provided with a cutoif device also in communication with said central flue, and a stack in communication with the space about the retort at the foot thereof and approximately opposite the source of heat-supply, for the purpose set for leading off gaseous products of distilla-.

tion from said retort, and a stack in communication with the space about the retort at the foot thereof and opposite the source of heat-supply, for the purpose set forth.

6. A carbonizer comprising a retort having a central open-ended flue, a casing, an inclined support therein for the retort, said casing of greater vertical and cross-sectional areas than the like areas of the retort, a source of heat-supply, circular flues provided with cut-off devices diverging from the source of heat-supply below the retort-support and leading to a central space thereof in communication with the flue of the retort, a drainpipe at the lowest point of the retort provided with a vertical branch pipe for leading off gaseous products of distillation from said retort, and a stack in communication with the space of the retort at the foot thereof and substantially opposite the source of heat-sup ply, for the purpose set forth.

7. A carbonizer comprising a retort having a central open-ended flue, a casing, a source of heat-supply on one side and at the foot thereof, a support for the retort in said casing inclining downwardly to the opposite side, fines below said support provided with cut-off devices and diverging from the source of heat-supply and leading to a central space in communication with the flue of the retort, an air-flue opposite the source of heat-supply, provided with a cut-off device and leading also to said central space, a pipe provided with a vertical branch in said air-flue and connected with the retort at its lowest point, and a stack in communication with the space about the retort substantially atthe lowest point of its support, for the purpose set forth. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed-my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PER LORENTZ LAURELL. Witnesses:

-L. KALLENBERG,

A. NORDBLOM. 

